Method and system for detecting a spatial movement state of moving objects

Abstract

A method and a system for detecting the spatial movement state of moving objects, e.g., vehicles. Due to a, for example, non-cartesian arrangement of four rotational rate sensors and / or acceleration sensors, it is also possible to obtain a redundant signal in addition to the desired useful signal indicating the spatial movement state, e.g., the rotational movement and / or acceleration in space; if this redundant signal is large enough in comparison with the rotational rate actually applied, it may be used for detection of the size of the error and the defective sensor. The four sensors are mounted, for example, on a sensor platform forming a three-sided truncated pyramid so that all possible three-way combinations of sensors are mutually linearly independent. The accuracy about the vertical axis is defined by the angle of inclination of the side faces of the truncated pyramid.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a method and a system for detecting a spatial movement state of moving objects, e.g., vehicles.BACKGROUND INFORMATION[0002]Previous automotive systems (e.g., ESP: electronic stabilizing program), restraint systems, and navigation systems are limited to the detection of planar movements of the vehicle and involve one-dimensional or two-dimensional measurement tasks. With advances in automotive engineering, there is a demand for detecting the spatial state of driving or motion. A variety of additional information may be made available through central detection of the spatial movement state. This information includes the inclination of the vehicle, which makes it possible to regulate the lighting, the displacement of the shift point of automatic operation on an inclination, etc., detection of a rollover and thus a more targeted deployment of airbags, recognition of steep curves, which may be used to improve the ESP algorithm,...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]It is an object of the present invention to permit a method and a system for detecting the spatial movement state of moving objects, e.g., vehicles, to make it possible to simplify the total effort for detecting exceptional situations; complex case differentiations and vehicle position estimates become superfluous and the algorithms of the individual systems may be simpler and less complex.

[0015]It is possible to achieve the following advantages with the method according to the present invention and the system according to the present invention for detecting the spatial movement state of moving objects, e.g., vehicles:—central detection of the spatial movement state. In the past, the movement state has been detected and analyzed separately by each subsystem which has meant a great increase in equipment complexity;—saving on program code in vehicle systems because they are no longer performing the measurement signal processing and estimation separately but instead these are performed centrally at one location. This entails costs savings;—redundant information is made available to the automotive systems, as is required for safety-critical applications;—increased transparency because regulatory functions are separated from measured data processing and estimation of the driving state;—all automotive systems are based on the same movement state determined with the help of the method and / or system according to the present invention.

Problems solved by technology

Previous automotive systems (e.g., ESP: electronic stabilizing program), restraint systems, and navigation systems are limited to the detection of planar movements of the vehicle and involve one-dimensional or two-dimensional measurement tasks.

Interpretation of these measurement results may result in errors in determination of the driving state.

These errors are small in normal driving states but in various driving states such as driving on a steep curve, driving on a steep inclination, rollover of the vehicle, these errors become extremely large and may have a misleading effect on the vehicle systems such as ESP and restraint systems.

In other cases, spatial movement states are detected only poorly or not at all such as a vehicle rollover in the case of restraint systems, so that in such a state the airbags are frequently not deployed.

For example, it is already apparent with the ESP system that detection of such exceptional cases of movement states is complex.

Images